Go Daniel!
Amid increasing track temperatures, a looming threat of thunderstorms, with their being at least a forty percent chance of rain, Daniel Ricciardo drove like a king, unaffected by all that would’ve panned out in taking pole for the 2018 Mexican Grand Prix.
In so doing, he clinched his first pole position since the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, a race he utterly dominated despite being stuck in a technical snag in his Red Bull no. 3.
Modestly impressive by the two Ferraris
That said, in locking out the front row for Red Bull, Max Verstappen emerged second, going nearly as fast as Dan-Ric for the most part of the track fuelled by 17 turns, yet emerging 0.026 behinds the Australian driver.
In ensuring that their topping the earlier runs of qualifying on every session conducted on Saturday, while the Red Bulls proved their effort was no flash in the pan, there were troubles for the Ferrari of Vettel, who stacked up the red car behind Hamilton, third, was able to bisect the two Mercedes with Bottas placing his car behind the German driver.
Meanwhile, Kimi Raikkonen, the latest Grand Prix winner in a season where he’s been the subject of a renewed discussion, first starting his performance at Monza and later, his stellar win at the US Grand Prix could go no better than the sixth.
He was followed by the two Renaults of Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jr., the former managing a clear one-second gap over his teammate with surprisingly both Saubers of Leclerc- not much of a surprise given his stunning qualifying consistencies all season- and Ericsson claiming the ninth and tenth spots on the grid, respectively.
In a track where tyre-wear will play every bit crucial a role as the chances of the track temperatures oscillating between different levels of heat, the 2018 Mexican Grand Prix could well go down the way of the team that manages the rubber just as well as the pit strategies.
One saw the two Ferrari’s notching up exciting times in the early run of the first qualifying run on Saturday with Raikkonen first going fastest on the hypersofts, only to be beaten by his teammate Vettel.
But all of that would quickly change the moment the Bulls entered the circuit in quite literally raising the bar of speed and agility, Ricciardo setting a new track record up first, only later to be bettered by his imperiously-quick teammate in the first run.
Eventually, as Ricciardo- 7 mechanical DNFs this season- would put out a belter of a lap at 1:14:759, he’d also settle the debate about the Bulls being the faster machines on a track that’s historically suited the straight line speed of the Ferraris and Red Bulls.
Can the Bulls take the Red off the Ferraris?
But where immediate history concerns, then Sebastian Vettel’s 2017 pole at Mexico City could only last as long as a few opening seconds inside of which Daniel Ricciardo’s teammate, Max Verstappen would pull an electrifying move inside the opening lap to clinch a Grand Prix where Vettel faced the ignominy of seeing the title fall in Lewis’ lap, following an opening lap skirmish provoked by the Ferrari that compelled Hamilton to even question, “Did he deliberately hit me?”
Having said, what’s to become of Vettel come race day at the 2018 Mexican Grand Prix, one wonders? The math surrounding the championship equation seems rather simple if you are Hamilton and in the exact same instance reads as if the odds are heavily stacked against the German’s favor.
Even as Vettel- who’ll start from the second row, behind Hamilton- is to pass the Briton and supposedly manages to eventually win the Grand Prix- a spectacle that should be worthy of some adulation, considering it’ll require him to also pass the two Red Bulls- Hamilton will easily take the crown should he finish sixth, seventh or higher.
And that the chances of Vettel’s win are about as fundamentally thin given the menacing pace of the Red Bulls as is the ease of finding balance on a skating rink going barefooted only underline the challenge he’s up against. At the same time, how does one stop the finest man on the grid from finishing seventh or below is perhaps a mystery no permutation or combination stands the chance of managing.
What lies ahead?
Given a lot is at stake, despite the championship battle now seemingly being a ‘one-way street’, particularly from the perspective of fathoming whether the Red Bull drivers will stand on the podium, whether Kimi will bounce back to another podium finish and just what might Ferrari do to contain Hamilton only makes the 2018 Mexican Grand Prix an utterly unmissable saga.
71 laps lie ahead, splintered by 17 turns composed of both slow and high-pace corners and the main straight where given the latest speed traps, Marcus Ericsson touched the 354 k’s mark, it seems what lies ahead is a cracker of a Grand Prix.